BC Home Sales Continue to Slow

Vancouver, BC – December 14, 2018.
The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a
total of 5,179 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple
Listing Service® (MLS®) across the province in November, down 33.1 per
cent from the same month last year. The average MLS® residential price
in BC was $718,903, a decline of 1.9 per cent from November 2017. Total
sales dollar volume was $3.7 billion, a 34.3 per cent decline from
November 2017.

“BC
households continue to struggle with the sharp decline in purchasing
power caused by the B20 mortgage stress test,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA
Chief Economist. “Most BC regions are now exhibiting relative balance
between supply and demand.”

Total
active residential listings were up nearly 31 per cent to 33,500 units
in November, compared to the same month last year. However, it should be
noted that this compares to 2017, when active listings for the month of
November were at their lowest level in more than 15 years.

Year-to-date,
BC residential sales dollar volume was down 23.1 per cent to $53.4
billion, compared with the same period in 2017. Residential unit sales
declined 23.6 per cent to 74,847 units, while the average MLS®
residential price was up 0.7 per cent to $713,302.